Union coach Urs Fischer on course with Berlin

Union coach Urs Fischer on course with Berlin

Timo Schultz was pretty courageous. “And you now, Champions League and cup victory,” whispered the FC St. Pauli coach to Urs Fischer after a warm hug. The Hamburger, who was not depressed despite being eliminated in the cup by the 1: 2 in the stadium at the Alte Försterei, probably did not know that Union Berlin coach Fischer can sometimes react quite grumpily to over-the-top sounding goals. But the Swiss left it this time with a smug smile in the good feeling of reaching the semi-finals of the DFB Cup.

Just a few days ago, the end of their wondrous success story was prophesied for the Iron Ones. Fischer has now stabilized his team in the Bundesliga, which was in turbulence after the departure of Max Kruse with three bankruptcies to zero, back in seventh place and thus on course for Europe next peak in sight. It is not only in Berlin-Köpenick that one wonders, how does Fischer manage to do it again and again?

“After these three defeats, the mood wasn’t too sad either. They won’t lose their feet on the ground, they’ll judge it correctly,” said Fischer, describing his mantra of consistency, unaffected by success and failure, which he transfers to his players. Setting stimulus points correctly is also a characteristic of the 56-year-old in the microcosm of East Berliners.

Hardly any exhilaration to be seen

The next motivating factor is delivered free of charge by the schedule. Max Kruse is waiting as an opponent in the jersey of VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday. Showing the collective power of the Union game to the suddenly renegade player at the end of January for the handsome sum of five million euros would have a special appeal – even if Fischer would never allow so much emotion publicly.

Even the exhilaration of Union Berlin’s first entry into a cup semi-final in 21 years was not immediately apparent to Fischer. “I really congratulated the boys. Even if I don’t show it like that, there’s a lot of joy there,” said the biggest stoic in the Bundesliga business, who specializes in miracles.


Sheraldo Becker refutes the prejudices – and scores for Union.
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Image: dpa

Promotion to the Bundesliga in 2019, staying in the league in 2020, qualifying for the European Cup in 2021. Each event in itself was amazing. And 2022? Captain Christopher Trimmel described how the Ironmen always remember themselves, even in difficult situations. “By getting closer together. That’s a saying, but we’re trying our best,” said the Austrian. With the departure of Max Kruse and the farewell to Marvin Friedrich, the quality had “already been lost”, Trimmel admitted. But: “It’s an opportunity for the other players, and they’re happy to accept it.”

One of those other players is currently Sheraldo Becker. The Dutchman always had the prejudice that he could only run fast. Now he scored well against Mainz (3-1) and scored the important equalizer against St. Pauli after Daniel Kofi Kyereh conceded. Cup specialist Andreas Voglsammer, who had already scored acrobatically against Hertha BSC (3:2) in the round of 16, used the second fatal slip in FC St. Pauli’s defense to score the winning goal.

For Union, the success was the first home win in the cup since 2001. Fischer would like to quickly reproduce the feeling in the semi-finals, whether surprised by this unusual record, in order to get the penultimate step closer to the premiere cup win predicted by Schultz. Fischer also had a nice season forecast ready for Hamburg. “I have a gut feeling that they will make it,” said Fischer about the promotion ambitions. Schultz responds with a smug smile.

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